Redevelopment on Track at Mildura Golf Resort

Mildura Golf Resort general manager Marcus Guthrie says redevelopments at the golf course are on track after construction started in November last year.

After surviving recent heavy rainfalls, Guthrie said golfers could expect the second and third holes to be ready for play at the end of next month. Guthrie said improvements to the course will see it become one of the premier golfing venues along the Murray, rivalling that of other courses on the Murray such as Rich River in Echuca and Murray Downs in Swan Hill. "The first initial stage was the construction of the new hole, the second which is going to be a par three and then the construction of the new third hole which is an extension of the second becoming a par five," Guthrie said.

"Everything's on track, we had a slight delay I would say in the growth of the second green due to the deluge of rain we had some weeks ago and also some of the winds blowing some of the top-soil off," he said. Nine of the holes will undergo "major development", while the other nine holes will have "small modification", such as increased bunkering or distance of tees.

Guthrie said the developments on the course was creating a buzz around the club. "It's an exciting time, the main reason is you have a wonderful boundary here inside the golf course, it's picturesque, you're so close to town but you feel like you're not," he said.

"There's a lot of excitement about this, it has been in the pipeline for seven or eight years, there has been some setbacks along the way so it's finally nice that it is happening."

Golf Victoria magazine editor Brian Meldrum inspected the course yesterday along with Australian golfing icon Bob Shearer after the first stage of developments started in November. Shearer is assisting redeveloping the course with his golf course development company Davey Shearer Golf

Meldrum said the developments would attract a number of visitors from Melbourne and Adelaide. "The fact the golf course is undergoing quite a radical change, it therefore creates a course that people will want to come and play because it does seem to be a mixture of holes, so I feel that this will boost that possibility," Meldrum said "People will come from Melbourne with this sort of comfort and there's so many good courses here you would think they would come up and play," he said.